Surprises Her to Know They Care
by thecoleaderofgroupb
Summary: She's played an "initiate" for quite some time now, usually slipping into obscurity once the final candidates accepted their positions within the respective branches. The rare few who tracked her down after becoming Kingsmen typically treated her with hostility – making her dread future encounters. Except when Eggsy and Roxy paid her a visit on two separate occasions, Amelia wasn't
1. Eggsy

**Notes** : This takes place post-V Day. *Amelia's last name was not mentioned in the film – it is made up, as well as her co-worker mentioned in the chapters.

* * *

"Miss Porter? An HQ agent is here to see you," her co-worker announced in German.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, frozen in place. She turned and glanced over her shoulder, eyes alert and lips slightly parted.

"Perhaps it's a mistake?" she replied, trying to play it off.

He shook his head and gestured in the direction of the shop break room. "He was most eager to see you if you had time. I think you're due for a break – you've been working on that coding non-stop since you got in."

Amelia forced herself to smile, but it came out a little pinched as she rose from her seat and stretched. So much for trying to hide behind her work…

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat as she walked down the hall, making a right, then a left, ascending a short flight of stairs that led to the shop front.

 _You're making a big deal about this,_ she thought as she wiped her hands on her trousers. Then again, she had every right to be anxious about this meeting.

Merlin felt that she had gotten fairly close to Eggsy and Roxy, despite the fact that they knew her for only a couple of hours before the first task. Normally she was better at keeping a low profile – acting polite when needed, but never divulging much when asked by fellow initiates. She had been doing this for almost 5 initiations and it was already second nature to her – pretend to fit in, observe the others during the tasks, and pretend to die or flunk out early on in the process.

It was uncommon for past recruits to track her down – technically, all of the sponsors were supposed to keep that a secret. Yet, the newer agents would find out in some way and they'd pay her a visit, expressing some less than gratuitous feelings about her role in initiation.

 _"You're a goddamn liar! Everyone bought your dead, helpless recruit act and thought you were actually carried out in a body bag, but no – turns out you were just playing us!"_

 _"Hang on, were you spying on us? I mean, how else would Merlin have known that I hated his insane layout of initiation?!"_

 _"I swear I'm gonna kill you, you bitch! I thought you fell to your death – why the hell would you fake that?! Did you know that I almost quit because of you? I nearly choked Merlin for being a heartless bastard just dismissing your death and it looks like I wasted my breath!"_

"Miss Porter, he's in the break room," one of the shop clerks said, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Oh, um, yes thank you," she replied, tucking a flyaway strand of hair behind her ear. She squared her shoulders and headed towards the shop break room, hesitating outside the door.

She had a gut feeling about the late addition to the most recent Kingsman initiation pool. Sure he looked sloppy and a little uncomfortable standing in a room with well-trained, polished middle class candidates, but she had been quick to note his good posture and immediate response to Merlin's call to attention. She had guessed Marines – seemed like he had the discipline but it was hard to tell whether he completed his program or not. The bags under his eyes, the wary look – he had been through Hell and wasn't one to give up without a decent fight. Trust was earned from what she could gather, provided that the other person seemed genuine in their exchanges.

 _Just go in there,_ she told herself. Worst case scenario: He would rip into her for her deception and throw a few expletives in. She had taken worse – a few cases ended in shop clerks dragging and escorting the visitor out of the shop for their volatile behavior. She took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway, hands clasped in front of her.

He was outfitted in the standard pinstripe bespoke suit, sitting on the couch, leg crossed, and nursing a scotch in his hand. He had been looking around the room before his eyes drifted from the clock and met hers.

"Good afternoon Galahad," she greeted him in a soft voice. "What brings you here to Berlin?"

"Honeypot, actually," he replied with a nod. He placed the glass down on the table in front of him and shifted legs, resting his hand on the crossed one.

"I suspect it was successful?" she prompted, stepping into the room.

He nodded and allowed a small smirk to cross his lips. "Granted, I know the target's not gonna remember anything about the encounter, but she had a lovely smile. Shame I only got to kiss her and nibble at her neck though." He winked at Amelia and removed his glasses, tucking them into his front pocket on his suit. He tilted his head and looked thoughtfully at her.

"I'll be honest," he began, "for a moment you had me convinced that you were actually dead. Merlin put you up to this?"

"Ah…"

He held up a hand to stop her, shooting her a small smile. "I understand that he'd probably be pissed off if you told me anymore than that. Cheeky bastard would plot to nearly give us a heart attack to make sure we weren't wanking off."

The smile faded and he frowned as he studied Amelia's face. She ducked her head and cleared her throat, realizing that she looked ridiculous standing there and being mute without explaining herself.

"Hey, everything all right? Did I offend you in some way?" he asked, sitting up straighter.

"Oh um…" she trailed off. She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed. "I…apologize for the awkward reaction. You understand that I don't see many of the recruits after initiation." She allowed her eyes to wander, settling on some ugly vase holding some regional flowers.

"I'll uh, admit that you're handling this a lot better than some of the other recruits," she added. "As you can imagine, a good majority of the ones who tracked me down were very upset – they bought the act and thought I was being cruel for tricking them."

She heard him rise from his seat and she pressed her lips together, waiting for him to start screaming in her face. Maybe even threaten to throw a punch. Instead, she found herself being crushed in a hug by the other agent.

"Hey, someone has to do it," he replied, chin resting on her shoulder. "You scared the shit outta me, but I'll admit that it scared that asshole Charlie and his losers – they stopped laughing after that."

Her eyes widened and she slowly moved her arms around him to reciprocate the hug. She should have known that he wasn't going to treat her like the others did.

"You have to admit, it's a serious job and look who ended up with the suit and the job?" she replied, a smile spreading across her face.

"Course it is," he said. His eyes glittered and he leaned closer to her ear. "By the way, I think you should make it up to me by taking me to a proper German brewhouse for a pint or two. Got a lot of catching up to do, yeah?"

"Sounds good."


	2. Roxy

"Ow! Rox wha' the?" Eggsy yelped as he rubbed the area where she nudged him hard.

"That, was for running off after the mission!" Roxy replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Merlin nearly tore the place up when he found out you conned a pilot into taking one of the jets out. So come on, out with it. Who the Hell was so important that you had to sneak out after?"

She tilted her head towards him, studying his face for any tale tell signs. "Princess Tilde again?"

Eggsy reddened and he fumbled with his glasses. "Wha'?! No, no, no it wasn't her I went to visit! Swear!"

"Then who?"

Eggsy loosened his tie, working it out of the neat Windsor knot. "I…uh…I saw Amelia."

The smug look quickly faded from her face and she dropped her arms to her sides. "You mean…?"

Eggsy nodded as he stepped closer to his fellow Kingsman. "She pretended to drown. Real reason she was there was to sober us up, see if any of us were serious enough about the job, knowing how dangerous it is." He removed his glasses and folded them up, tucking them into his pocket. "Harry told me that she really works in I.T. – German offices. Ya know I'm sure she'd like to see you too."

Roxy opened her mouth but found that her tongue was completely tied after hearing this bit of news. She had her doubts about Amelia dying, mainly because the organization didn't just kill innocent people unless they had to. After all, she was able to confirm that the Skydiving, NLP, and final tasks were staged to look real, but actually had safety nets in place for various reasons. But it always bothered her that Amelia, pale and lifeless, seemed to look truly dead. Then again, she was lying pretty far back in the room, which made it difficult to get a good look at her.

"Rox, go visit her," Eggsy said as he rested a hand on her shoulder. "I think it would make her happy. After all, she said she was rooting for us when everyone thought otherwise."

She nodded before tilting her head up to look him square in the eye. "It would have been lovely if you could have told me sooner."

"Hey, in my defense Rox, we've all been a lil' busy trying to fix the shit that Valentine fucked up," Eggsy replied with a roll of his eyes.

* * *

"I told Harry that he shouldn't just reveal all of our secrets behind recruitment," Merlin sighed, taking a sip from his mug. She watched as he drank from it and replaced it on the coaster, before draping his leg over the other.

"I do appreciate that you asked, lass, instead of doing what Eggsy did and go rogue on me," he continued. He removed his glasses and rested the end of an earpiece on his lips.

"I'll be honest Merlin, she did a very job convincing us that she was actually dead," Roxy admitted. "Gave me a couple of nightmares for the first few nights – almost added aquaphobia to my list of fears."

Merlin allowed a faint smile across his lips and he sighed as he stared off into the distance. "She put a lot of faith in you and Eggsy. Granted, she only knew you for a couple of hours, but she said that it was clear both of you were going to take things seriously and do it for the right reasons." He straightened up and checked his watch. "I can take you over there if you'd like. Or I'm sure one of the other pilots might be available to take you, if you'd prefer."

Roxy shot him an apologetic smile, spotting the mountain high pile of reports that was threatening to tip over any second out of the corner of her. Ever since V Day, Merlin was buried in paperwork and juggling the responsibilities of acting as a temporary Arthur to the organization. She could tell that he wasn't getting a lot of sleep lately and she bowed her head as she headed for the door. "I'll ask someone – I'm afraid it will take longer than a short jaunt."

* * *

"You, Miss Porter, are quite popular these days," her co-worker teased as he leaned his head around her cubicle wall. "I almost feel like I should just get in the long line and see what the fuss is all about!"

Amelia rolled her eyes and pushed her chair away from her desk. "What do you want now?"

"Oh it's not me that's summoning you," he replied. "Another HQ agent – a Miss Morton this time." He tilted his head towards her and opened his mouth to say some teasing remark, only for her to brush past him, shaking her head in disgust.

She tried to push the thought of her co-worker's annoying behavior out of her mind as she headed to the break room, tugging her shirt down to remove the creases at the hem. It had been surprisingly pleasant to see Eggsy a couple of days ago – of all the people that could have joined the organization, she was glad that he was given that chance. V Day went unmentioned and they had a great time laughing and joking about work, secrets about initiation, and whatever else came up.

Roxy on the other hand, she didn't know what to expect. She knew from observation that Roxy was capable of being firm, if not a little icy towards people who seemed to undermine her or anyone she respected. She could see the younger woman having an occasional, swear-laced outburst from time to time, but she predicted that those were saved for specific cases. _Icy is better than swearing,_ she told herself as she neared the break room.

The other young woman was nursing a cup of tea in one hand, while the other was absently smoothing a wrinkle out of her trousers. Amelia cleared her throat as she stuck her head in, making the other snap her head towards her.

"Hi…" Roxy murmured as she set the cup down on the table across from her. She rose from her seat and laced her fingers together. "I apologize if I'm interrupting you – you must be extremely busy after that mess Valentine made."

"You don't need to apologize," Amelia replied as she tucked a strand of short hair behind her ear. "I was due for a break – there's only so much coding I can take at a time." She shot the other young woman a faint smile, before meeting her eyes. "Honeypot mission too?"

"No, um…" Roxy trailed off. "Listen, I was questioning myself when I saw you lying there, unconscious that night. When we went through the other tasks, I determined there were safeguards in place, but I could never really confirm whether I thought you might still be alive or dead, thanks to a lack of awareness. I should have realized that you weren't swimming over to get a showerhead."

Amelia leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. "Isn't that sort of the point? I know it was unfair to trick you into thinking that, but after a few bad candidates, Merlin thought it was best to introduce someone like me to observe everyone from the inside, then sober them up if they got too confident. I'm sure you can imagine we got a lot of candidates like Charlie and his mates in the past and most of them managed to hide their worst traits from Merlin and the others until they were given the position."

Roxy nodded to show she understood before walking over to her, tilting her chin up so she could look into Amelia's eyes better. "I'm not mad Amelia," she replied, "if Merlin said that he needed your help and judgment, then it makes perfect sense. Besides, I doubt you would have wanted Charlie working alongside you."

Amelia rolled her eyes and pursed her lips at the mention of him. "Granted, I only knew him for a short period of time, but there's a fine line between being well versed in spy etiquette and just quoting from the book to look good. He liked the sound of the position, but not the grunt work and potential threats that came with it."

Roxy smirked, shaking her head as she revealed how Charlie gave up the organization and Chester King very easily in the NLP task. "Whimpering like a scared puppy," she remarked with a snort. "Chester looked disgusted – then he just left Charlie tied to the tracks to sort himself out."

"I figured that he'd crack under pressure," Amelia chuckled. "So…we're all right then?"

"I'd say we are," Roxy replied. She tilted her head towards the older woman and glanced towards the entrance of the shop. "But, I'm afraid as punishment for almost adding aquaphobia to my list of fears, you are not working for the rest of today and all tomorrow."

Amelia did a double take, before noticing the mischievous twinkle in Roxy's eyes. She allowed a small smile to cross her lips before relaxing her arms at her sides.

"Shame. I had _hours_ of coding left to complete!" Amelia joked with a wink. "All right then, what does my 'no work' punishment entail?"

Roxy gently took her shoulders and began steering Amelia towards the shop front, peering over the other's left shoulder.

"Sightseeing. Preferably your personal picks for Berlin and a proper meal where we can talk about everything."


End file.
